Magic Acquire Brian Cook and Maurice Evans From L.A. Lakers

[Mat 4]

Nice post.. black pat garrity, haha, nice!

 

Seriously, i really liek Trevor, he

[Old No.7 0]

quote:

now that we have Cook, its like we have 2 Pat Garritys now.

 

My worst nightmare has come true!! My tv's and computer monitor as well as anything breakable thats near them are now in grave danger.

[Tough Break There 96]

quote:

Billy D. backing out of the deal isn't what made it a bad choice. Best case, it showed very questionable judgement to go in that direction to begin with. He backed into a 2nd chance and I'll give him credit for making the most of it. I'm not ready to put SVG in the Hall of Fame just yet, but he appears to be the right coach for this team.

 

I definatly agree. Donovan would have been terrible for us, especially compared to SVG. But most people criticize Otis for what happened with the deal (losing Donovan) and I don't think he deserves the blame there.

[Emory889 353]

Trevor Ariza is vastly overrated by 95 percent of the members of this forum. So for all of you guys out there let me ease your collective minds. Ariza will NEVER EVER be a allstar. That's right Darkside if I was a gambling man and willing to bet on something so frivilous then I would give you some action. The Nba is littered with very talented perimeter players that can't shoot. None of them have a snowballs chance in hell of making an allstar team. I defy anyone to name a allstar perimeter player that couldn't shoot outside of 15 feet. Gerald Wallace and Andrei Kirileko are the closest I can come up with and both of them have far superior shooting ability to Ariza. Please don't give me the excuse "Trevor is working hard on his shot". The man has been working on his shot for 3 years now and its just as bad as it was when we traded for him. Face it people, Trevor will never be a good shooter in this league. That's right, I said NEVER.

 

Here is another commonly overlooked fact about Trevor's game. His ball handling ability is just as bad as his shooting. There is a 75 percent chance of him turning the ball over if he has to dribble it more than twice. I know that I'm not the only one that picked up on this. So basically we have a perimeter player that can't dribble or shoot but he is going to make an allstar team in the future. PLEASE! Jermaine O'neal? Andrew Bynum? Some of you guys are seriously dillusional.

 

His passing is also very bad. I think someone else already mentioned this. One of the biggest criteria to fitting in on our team is you MUST be able to get the ball into Dwight. Ariza (partially due to his shooting ability) is so bad at it that I wonder why he is even put into that position. He inevitably either has to swing the ball around the perimeter (because he couldn't get an angle for the pass) or he manages to make the pass but Dwight has to pass it back out because he is out of position.

 

I'm not trying to bash Trevor. He does alot of things very well on the floor. He is a very good defender (although he isn't fundamentally sound) and an outstanding rebounder and weakside defender. He also brings alot of energy on the floor that will be missed. Of course, there is some upside because I think he will improve. Just not to the level that alot of you guys are suggesting he will. I can understand why some of you guys over value him. Its human nature to get attached to the players that we root for every game and honestly see play the most. Its very easy to love a guy that plays as hard as Trevor does. We think he can make an allstar team because we WANT him to make one. Various members here have said similar things about Dwight, Jameer, Turkoglu, Ariza, Darko (when he played for us), and even JJ. Its important to remember that while we root for these guys to keep in mind that there are better players out there. Maybe more important, to remember that there are players out there that are a better FIT!

 

OK on to the trade.

 

I've actually seen quite a bit of Evans and Cook and overall I think this is a pretty good trade for both teams.

 

I'll start with Cook. Its pretty obvious that he brings some things to the table that are obvious needs for this team. He is an outstanding shooter from the power forward spot. One of the best in the league. This is of course a premium on our team that is designed to give Dwight as much space as possible. The other thing he gives us is size. No, he isn't a good rebounder or shot blocker but neither is Pat Garrity. The truth is that in a perfect world Cook would provide those attributes (but then the Lakers wouldn't give him to us either) but our team seems to play very well without the power forward position being a dominant rebounder or shot blocker. Does anyone think that Cook will be a worse defender from that position than Rashard? How about Turk or Pat? The man provides us with another option. Here is some more food for thought: Is it possible that Cook isn't the best rebounder because he plays so much on the perimeter? Sure that doesn't answer the defensive rebounding questions but it explains the lack of offensive boards. We were seriously considering adding Doleac to our roster. No one was complaining about his lack of shot blocking or rebounding. IMO, Cook is a big upgrade to Doleac and most of our current options.

 

Evans is also a solid player. Like a couple of the Lakers fans have mentioned already he is a solid defender that is very athlectic (sound familiar to anyone?). He also is prone to making mistakes and occasionally jacks up some bad shots (I know that sounds familiar). Basically we are replacing Ariza with a more polished Ariza. Plus, Evans has a much better jump shot.

 

Both of the guys we've added a)fit our current style of play and B) fill a need on our team. Now there is no way to fully grade a trade until we see them on the court but on paper this deal makes alot of sense. Sure it hurts to lose Trevor but sometimes you have to go with the guys that are a better fit. It was very hard for Otis as well. He was quoted in the Denton blog as saying that Trevor was like a son to him. Clearly this is a man that fully believes that he is making a move in the best interest of the team.

 

One last thing to consider before you automatically write off this trade as being bad...how many of you guys had seen Trevor before he was traded here? I would be willing to bet that most of you didn't think we got enough for Francis.

[The Ghost of John Gabriel 0]

I've contributed enough rants to this thread and apparently coined a nickname for yet another Magic player/coach, The Black Pat Garrity...

 

Before I retire, consider this...

 

I knew this trade was going to be bad when I saw the original thread that read, We traded Ariza. Why? Because it didn't read, We just traded for _______!!!

 

I once read an interview with the greatest GM in the history of the NBA (Red). The question was asked of him, how do you define a good trade before hand? He said, "the team who gets the best player, wins the trade. I was the best GM in the NBA because I traded Joe Barry Carroll for Robert Parrish & Kevin McHale".

 

That's always stuck with me and it's always been true. He who gets the best player, wins the trade! Ariza's the biggest name in this trade and we lost the trade.

 

Fantasy wannabe's, remember that one, I don't own every league I'm in right now without wisdom like that!

[Emory889 353]

and for the love of God please quit using Youtube videos to evaluate a players ability. The biggest scrub in the league could look on one of those highlight reels.

[LilPenny3000 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Tough Break There:

You attack me in your posts but you never offer any substantial facts or ideas to back your attacks up. Not sure how I came to praise everything about the Magic (I was a vocal critic of letting Darko go, and I thought we over-paid for Lewis).

 

And other than Hocky-man's genius draft of MeerWard, how exactly hasn't Otis gotten us to where we are today? Was the Donovan situation ugly? Yes. But how was it Otis's fault? The man signed a contract. Has Otis found an execellent coach? Sure seems that way so far.

 

The whole point was that you shouldn't be telling others to stop posting just because you don't like their opinions that's all.

 

It's not LiLPenny's job to find the best deal/wait until the right moment to trade Ariza (whose defense by the way, would've been useful tomorrow against the Spurs). Otis Smith is not a well-prepared businessman, he's just an ex-Magic player. The guy has a track record of not getting great value for what he gives up. His "creative financing" turned out into what you stated above. He's never come close to making a deal where it could be said: What a great deal for Orlando! Getting rid of Francis and getting Darko/Ariza and Arroyo was his crowning achievement, and he already has undone that by letting go of the best 2 out of those three, for nothing, nada. Was never able to give Grant Hill away, at least for some future picks.. should I go on?

 

LiLPenny is already doing better than Otis on coaching choice alone. Had Stan Van Gundy as the #1 choice from the beginning, and didn't need a month to realize he was the right man for the job. Then Adelman, Iavaroni, etc. Donovan would've been like a 4th or 5th choice at best.. probably not consider a college coach at all.

[nbr 15]

Well, to come home from work to this, lol.

 

I don't know, I just don't know. I feel we could've got a little more. Brian Cook. I like that he compliments Howards game. With his ability to shoot beyond, ummmmmmmmmmmm. Not for me I guess, but I'll live with it. My thoughts on Ariza were that we had a good player, nothing more, nothing less. I don't think he could become great. With that said I always valued him, because of what he could bring to the table. Tenacity on both ends of the floor, athleticism, defensive ability, good size.

 

Like I said I'll live with it cause right now we're going alright, lol.

[A BETTER DJ 12]

Let's all keep in mind that SVG publicly stated in the preseason that all starting positions except D12 and Shard were up for grabs.

 

As much as I like Trevor and think he might have potential he didn't even crack the 7th slot in the rotation.

 

We just traded someone who could possibly be great in the future but can't shoot for 2 guys that can put the ball in the bucket now... and we still have more pieces to trade for the bangin' big or solid backup PG we need!

[brownmagic 0]

I think Otis has made the right move here. Ariza hasn't proven anything yet just like Darko when he was traded. We can't just wait for potential to materialize.

 

What Otis has done is shrewd. He has fortified our second unit which should be much more offensively oriented than before. Evans is pretty athletic and can shoot the ball and Cook can release the ball much faster than Garrity can. So I think we have an upgrade on both fronts - we have a player with Ariza like defensive ability and unAriza like shooting ability and a player with garrity like accuracy but ungarrity like ability to jump and shoot ungarrity like defensive ability.

 

Bottom line we might have given up Ariza but our team just got STRONGER, especially our second unit. We could also use these players in future trade scenarios.

 

Well Done Otis.

[nbr 15]

quote:

Origianlly posted by: brownmagic

I think Otis has made the right move here. Ariza hasn't proven anything yet just like Darko when he was traded. We can't just wait for potential to materialize.

 

Fair point but based on what I believe to be our direction, I can't really agree. For me this team is one of growth and Ariza fit the bill on that. I can live with a guy who has potential, yet brings it every night. That I can live with, that was Ariza.

[MilitaryMagic 0]

quote:

Originally posted by The Ghost of John Gabriel:

I've contributed enough rants to this thread and apparently coined a nickname for yet another Magic player/coach, The Black Pat Garrity...

 

Before I retire, consider this...

 

I knew this trade was going to be bad when I saw the original thread that read, We traded Ariza. Why? Because it didn't read, We just traded for _______!!!

 

I once read an interview with the greatest GM in the history of the NBA (Red). The question was asked of him, how do you define a good trade before hand? He said, "the team who gets the best player, wins the trade. I was the best GM in the NBA because I traded Joe Barry Carroll for Robert Parrish & Kevin McHale".

 

That's always stuck with me and it's always been true. He who gets the best player, wins the trade! Ariza's the biggest name in this trade and we lost the trade.

 

Fantasy wannabe's, remember that one, I don't own every league I'm in right now without wisdom like that!

 

LoL, Steve Francis was a better player when we traded for Ariza.

 

Cato was better than Darko at the time of the trade.

 

I see what you're getting at, but you are no less flawed in your arguments than most anyone else here

 

The reasons why we were able to sign Ariza to that seemingly cheap deal 2 years ago are the same reasons why his value is not high now. The dude simply has not improved his game since we signed him to that contract. As of Day 3 of training camp, when all we read about was Bogans at the wing spot and how Rashard is a natural, we all knew Ariza wasn't going to be a factor on this team. Bogans for crying out loud... KEITH BOGANS!

 

It'll be interesting to see how minutes play out at SG. I imagine that Evans may see 20+ mpg and fill the 6th man role, subbing in for our weakest starter.